News and Notes from The CAFE TA Center

It’s March, and spring is right around the corner. Even though some parts of the country are still dealing with heavy snow and cold temperatures, a season of new growth and renewal is right getting closer with every passing day. We hope the spring brings you a renewed sense of wellness and possibility.

In that spirit of growth, we’d like to tell you about a new learning opportunity that has been created through a cooperative effort by the five national technical assistance centers. CAFÉ TAC has joined with Doors to Wellbeing, the NAMI STAR Center, the National Empowerment Center, and Peerlink to form the Peer-Run Organization Learning Collaborative. The purpose of this collaborative is to host a series of webinars on topics related to operating a healthy mental health consumer organization, with subjects ranging from the nuts and bolts of organizing, like budgeting, board development, fundraising, and strategic planning, to other important issues, such as conflict resolution, inclusion, and relationship building.

The first webinar in this series, Conflict Management in Peer-Run Organizations: Tools for Effective Conversations, was held on March 14th. The second webinar, Developing a Board of Directors for Mental Health Organizations, is set for Wednesday, May 15th from 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET. You can register to participate in the webinar series at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2200903817303742210.

We are also eager to hear about what topics and issues you would like to see addressed by the Peer-Run Organization Learning Collaborative in upcoming webinars. To help make sure that happens, we have created a brief survey to learn about the needs and priorities of peer-run organizations. Please take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/peer-run-orgs.

For more about what’s happening in the world of mental health, check out the links below.

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Mental Illness Not To Blame For Gun Violence, Study Finds

A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
debunks the connection between mental health issues and gun violence
that is an all-too common feature of public opinion.

Peer-run organizations may see the value of having youth and young
adult peer providers, but experience difficulties in recruiting,
retaining, and managing them. A new guide from the Transitions to
Adulthood Center for Research offers some ideas on how to make it work.

The WHO QualityRights initiative is working to improve the quality of
mental health services globally and to promote the human rights of
people with mental health conditions and psychosocial, intellectual, and
cognitive disabilities. To do so, WHO has opened a survey that allows
respondents to recommend “people-centered services . . . that operate
without coercion, and that respond to people’s needs by promoting
autonomy, inclusion in the community, and the involvement of people with
lived experience at all levels of decision-making.”

A Survey to Define Peer Support Specialist for The Department of Labor

A national workgroup organized by iNAPS has developed a proposed
definition for peer support specialist to submit for federal standard
occupational classification through the US Department of Labor. The
group is seeking input before moving forward with its submission.

According to a UK study described in this Reuters article, people who receive support from peers are less likely to return to be readmitted one year after a hospitalization when compared to those that do not receive peer support.

As this article from the Tennessean describes, peer support provided by consumer organizations like the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association can significantly reduce re-hospitalization, improving outcomes while also reducing costs.

An award-winning new collection of essays by Esmé Weijun Wang entitled “The Collected Schizoprhenias” offers an intimate, thoughtful first-hand account of living with schizoaffective disorder. Read a review of this engaging new book here.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is available to provide help to students with mental health needs in higher education with issues such as involuntary leaves of absence after hospitalization, difficulties returning to school after taking leave, and obtaining appropriate accommodations.

This Medical Xpress article recounts the story of a young woman whose mysterious physical symptoms were ultimately linked to her mental health condition, illustrating the link between physical and mental health.

This Open Minds article lists six challenges that organizations must address in integrating peer support services into their approach: role confusion, lack of integration, performance measures, management training, career paths, and specialties of focus.